Namibia: Insurance Industry HIV/ Aids Unfriendly - LAC

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New Era (Windhoek)

5 March 2008
Posted to the web 5 March 2008

Catherine Sasman
Windhoek

The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) says the practice of requiring a HIV-negative result for one to access life policy insurance is "patently unconstitutional".

LAC Aids Unit Coordinator, Amon Ngavetene, said the legislature should look into the justifiability of the apparent discrimination against people living with HIV/Aids "considering that these people constitute a sizable portion of the population against the financial considerations of the insurers".

He was addressing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economics, National Resources and Public Administration, that had travelled the country over the last couple of weeks to solicit views from the public on the insurance industry. Ngavetene suggested an amendment to the Short-Term Insurance Act and Long-Term Insurance Act to prohibit discrimination against people living with HIV/Aids. He further suggested optional products for people living with HIV/Aids that can be used as collateral when such people apply for housing and other loans.

The LAC said insurance companies should be compelled to ensure quality pre- and post-counselling when sending people for HIV tests, adding that insurance applicants should be informed that they have options not to take the HIV test if they are not prepared.

"Given the availability and positive effect of ARV [anti-retroviral] treatment in prolonging the lifespan of people living with HIV/Aids, HIV positive status alone should no longer be a justifiable ground for discriminating against people living with HIV/Aids in accessing life insurance," Ngavetene said.

Another niggling issue raised by the human rights organisation is that clients often - due to language or other barriers - do not fully comprehend the content of contracts entered into with insurance companies.

To mitigate this scenario, the LAC said public education by the insurance companies should be a prerequisite.

He went on to say people living with HIV/Aids are also being discriminated against retrospectively, since insurance companies refuse payouts if the person died of an HIV/Aids-related illness.

The LAC submission also requested affordable, speedy and responsive legal mechanisms to redress those wronged by the insurers guilty of fraud "by not telling the applicants about their exclusionary clauses and other conditions under which they may not pay out in case a person dies or becomes disabled".

Exclusionary clauses exclude insurance companies' liability on certain conditions, listing serious or potentially life-threatening medical conditions that are excluded from benefit payouts, or are not covered for long-term insurance.

Ngavetene suggested that payouts could be in direct proportion to contributions already made, instead of insisting on the sums assured.

The LAC called for a stakeholders' conference under the auspices of Namfisa to chart a way forward for insurance companies to "operate in line with modern day ethics".

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